Destrehan is a 2-STAR SCHOOL just like Hahnville, state education officials say

The state has issued report cards to St. Charles public schools and the results are encouraging. Last week, the Herald-Guide looked at Hahnville High School’s performance. This week we zero in on Destrehan High School.

While Destrehan showed “grudging growth” in one area, the Louisiana Department of Education especially wants to see improvements in, its “School Performance Score” of 99.6 which still beats the state average of 85.1.

Destrehan improved from 99.1 to 99.6 - and that’s good - but the department of education wants to see a 2-point increase every year. That will ensure that the state brings its average to 120 by 2014.

“We’re moving in the right direction to meet the SPS goal of 120 by 2014,” Rachel Allemand, of Destrehan, told the Herald-Guide.

“The school has implemented many initiatives to increase the graduation rate while increasing the rigor of its curriculum for all students.

“These include after- school tutoring for students who need extra help, Advanced Placement classes for students who want to pursue college level coursework, and teaching reading as well as English classes for freshmen.”

Destrehan scores also were higher than the state average in English, math, science and social studies. Attendance rates for Destrehan were 94.7 percent, just short of the district average of 95 percent. Both the school and the district outperformed the state average of 93.7 percent.

The dropout rate was 3.2 percent, a full 2 percent behind the state average of 5.2 percent. That number also fell below the district average of 3.3 percent.

Both Hahnville and Destrehan High scored just below the 100- point mark and only received two stars, projected growth has both schools reaching the three-star mark by the end of next year.